‘Role models:’ Local soccer players inspired by Canadian women’s journey to gold medal game

The Canadian women’s soccer team is going for gold Friday morning and setting an example for young female athletes in the province.

Jenna Muir has been playing soccer since she was three years old. The now 15-year-old centre striker said she’s been watching the Olympics this year, following Team Canada’s progress on the pitch.

“It’s great to see what my coaches tell me to do and the actual players do it perfectly, they’re all just flawless,” Muir said.

Muir stayed up at her cabin to watch the Canadian women beat Team USA during their 2 a.m. semi-final matchup on Aug. 2, 2021. She’s planning to rise early Friday, too, to hopefully see Canada bring home a gold medal.

Though her soccer team — Muir plays for the Queen City United Soccer Club on a high-performance U15 team — was initially planning to watch the game together, a change in the game time from Thursday evening to early Friday morning to accommodate players’ heat concerns changed her plans. Muir is now excited to have a sleepover with one of her teammates and rise early in preparation for the game.

Despite the early time, Muir said snacks are not an option — Miss Vickie’s salt and vinegar are her chips of choice for the event.

“(Playing soccer is) just my favourite thing to do, I love everyone on my team,” said Muir, who called the sport her “passion.”

Muir’s love for the sport has been fostered by her family. In 2015, she travelled to Edmonton to watch matches when Canada hosted the FIFA Women’s World Cup. It was the first time she saw Canada play live, which she called a “great experience.”

In 2019, she travelled with her family to watch some games during the next World Cup in France.

“We watched Canada play Sweden and unfortunately they lost the game,” she recalled.

Muir hopes to see a different outcome this time the two teams meet.

“I really would like Canada to beat Sweden, especially because of that devastating loss,” she said.

Jade Houmphanh, a centre midfielder for the University of Saskatchewan Huskies, said she gets inspiration from watching Olympic soccer and learning from the players on the pitch.

“Just to see what I can take from it to bring into my own game, too,” she said. “To see the play the midfielders have and their intelligence on and off the ball like where to move to get a ball before it comes. They already know what they’re going to do with the ball before it even gets to them.”

Houmphanh said she was first drawn to the sport because of her father.

“My dad’s always played soccer and I’ve just always grown up around the environment of soccer,” she explained. “Just watching games with him, it really inspired me to try the sport.”

The university athlete has been cheering for the USA, Japan and, of course, Canada in women’s soccer.

“Definitely excited to watch them play,” she said, adding that she’ll absolutely be waking early to watch the match.

“It’s very empowering to see all these women. I can look up to them as role models and just see how they’re inspiring the nation and current players like myself,” Houmphanh said.

Both Muir and Houmphanh called Jessie Fleming their favourite player on Team Canada. The midfielder was responsible for the first penalty goal in Canada’s semi-final win against the U.S.

“She’s just so young and she’s just such an inspiration to me,” Muir said.

“She just had the confidence to take that penalty kick and she just executed it perfectly,” added Houmphanh.

Both athletes have confidence that Canada could bring home the gold in women’s soccer this year. Houmphanh said a win would be a “historic moment for women’s soccer in Canada.”

“I truly believe … they can win. If they can beat (the) USA — the favourites in the tournament — I think they could beat anyone,” Muir said.